Where we began
Our story
Passionate about working with smallholder farmers.
The team behind Narra’s (registered as Narra Oceania) initiative has always been passionate about working with smallholder farmers. Over many years they have individually managed a number of large agriculture programmes on several continents, primarily focusing on the Asia-Pacific region.
Coming together
Designing a cocoa livelihood programme for the coconut farmers
The journeys of Rob Crisostomo, Paul Bradbury and Keith Budd crossed for the first time in 2017 in Samar Island, and their discussion resulted in designing a cocoa livelihood programme for the coconut farmers whose livelihood was destroyed by typhoon Haiyan in 2013. The programme goal was to rehabilitate the damaged areas and to establish strong resilient communities.
The successful partnership that was built in Eastern Samar, encouraged Rob, Paul and Keith to continue working together by forming a joint venture between Rob’s Seedcore company and Paul’s Rautini.
The joint venture was called Narra, after a tree species endemic across southeastern Asia and the western Pacific.
NARRA
A tall and sturdy tree
Narra is the national tree of the Philippines, symbolising durability and the indomitable spirit and strength of character of its people. This is what Narra envisions as its core mission - creating strong and resilient communities.
Rob Crisostomo has been in the cacao business since 2011, and Seedcore quickly became one of the largest cacao exporting enterprise in the Philippines.
News
Catch up on the latest news, updates and progress of Narra Oceania
